Youths in the Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State are considering taking up arms in self-defense amid growing dissatisfaction with frequent bandit attacks and an increase in kidnappings.
According to a statement signed on Thursday by youth activist Bello Bala Shagari, an online conference of Shagari youngsters expressed great worry about the government’s failure to protect lives and property in their areas.
They noted that bandit attacks, which have been ongoing for months, have relocated families, hindered farming activities, and left many communities in terror.
Mr. Shagari, the grandson of former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, stated that the youths had taken “a last-resort decision” to protect themselves and their communities in the face of repeated attacks and humiliation.
According to him, the rising tide of fear has prompted young people to question the government’s ability to carry out its constitutional role of protecting citizens.
“The government has done little to protect us. We cannot sit idle while our people suffer. Self-defense may be our only remaining option.
“Although the youths preferred peace, we could no longer watch while lives were being lost and property destroyed on a daily basis.”
The organization urged both the Sokoto State Government and the Federal Government to immediately deploy appropriate security troops to Shagari and the adjacent local government areas.
They emphasized that proactive action, not promises, was required to restore trust and prevent a spiral into lawlessness.
Security analysts have often cautioned that local populations using armed self-defense might exacerbate unrest and make peace more difficult to attain.
However, as attacks expand throughout Sokoto and other northwest regions, calls for community-based security measures are growing.
Sokoto State, like nearby Zamfara, Katsina, and Kebbi, has seen years of armed banditry, including mass abductions, massacres, and raids on farming settlements.
SBM Intelligence and other conflict trackers report that hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced in the Northwestsince 2021.
In Zamfara State, 279 schoolgirls were kidnapped at Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in February 2021, while in Niger State, bandits kidnapped 27 students and teachers from Government Science College, Kagara, and later 156 students from Salihu Tanko Islamiya School, Tegina.
Sokoto saw multiple attacks in late 2021 and 2022, including the slaughter of approximately 40 travelers in Sabon Birni LGA.
Despite military operations such as Operation Hadarin Daji and Operation Safe Haven, insecurity remains, with many villages accusing authorities of neglect.
Amnesty International and other civil society organizations have documented how armed gangs extort, compel levies, and kill rural communities in the Northwest.
